CHP to consider carpool lane cheater crackdown

The number of tickets issued to carpool lane cheaters by the California Highway Patrol last year nearly doubled from 2010.

But traffic experts and motorists told Bay Area News Group it’s not enough. As many as 30 percent of cars in the diamond lanes are driven by solo drivers apparently willing to risk a $491 fine because they don’t fear being caught, the news agency reported.

Now the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission wants the CHP to step up its enforcement of carpool lanes.

They are insisting it be included in an existing bill that would extend a popular carpool lane perk that allows drivers of electric and alternative-fuel vehicles to purchase green or white stickers and legally use the diamond lanes to skirt jammed traffic.